Sea of Thieves
Sea of Thieves will be Xbox One’s first big splash of 2018. Several games, such as The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, captured the liberating feeling of sailing the ocean in search of treasure. Sea of Thieves takes these concepts and expands on them by putting players into a situation where they have to work together. No longer can they sail, fight, and plunder all on their own. Sea of Thieves is all about teamwork in every aspect of its design.
Each crew member is entrusted to fulfill a specific function. Steering the ship, raising the anchor, on the lookout for enemies; success requires a frenzy of purposeful movement, but it almost always involves laughing uncontrollably, too, as you try and coordinate your adventure. Sea of Thieves plays on the premise of the goofy pirate game with its over the top animations, and fun gameplay mechanics, such as using cannons to quickly launch from your ship to a nearby island. But beyond all the silliness, there’s intense survival gameplay that demands careful strategy, too.
Perhaps the biggest concern is just how much the game does rely on communication. Sea of Thieves requires a mic, for starters, and a reliable group of buddies to properly take advantage of its design. What’s more, we’re yet to see what the gameplay loop is beyond the initial entertainment of piloting a ship and running a few island quests. So is there enough gameplay here to keep players entertained in the long term? We love the idea of Sea of Thieves, but let’s just hope it’s appeal is a lasting one.
